IWRA TASK FORCES
Smart Water Management Task Force
The Smart Water Management Task Force was formed to focus on Smart Water Management as a solution for water management challenges
Why focus on Smart Water Management?
Smart Water Management (SWM) uses Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and real-time data and responses as an integral part of the solution for water management challenges. SWM is becoming an area of increasing interest as governments from around the world integrate smart principles into their urban, regional and national strategies. The potential application of smart systems in water management is wide and includes solutions for water quality, water quantity, efficient irrigation, leaks, pressure and flow, floods, droughts and much more.
By applying SWM infrastructure such as sensors, smart meters, monitors, GIS and satellite mapping, and other data sharing tools to water management, real-time solutions can be implemented and broader networks can work together to reduce current water management challenges.
The SWM Task Force is made up of selected IWRA members, supported by its Executive Board and Secretariat. Task Force members have the opportunity to:
- Contribute to IWRA’s Smart Water Management projects, by reviewing and providing advice to IWRA publications and activities.
- Provide their input and share insights on Smart Water Management with the broader water community.
- Interact and create meaningful networks and relationships among IWRA members and to contribute to projects and initiatives that otherwise would be inaccessible for individual professionals in the field.
The following list includes the names of IWRA’s current SWM Task Force Panellists:
Research Professor of Water Policy and Management at the University of South Australia. Henning is also a board member of IWRA and the chair of its Science, Technology and Publication Committee. He is representing that committee on the Task Force. For the last four years he has focused his research on improving the productivity and profitability of small-scale irrigators in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Tanzania by introducing Agricultural Innovation Platforms and simple to use tools to monitor soil moisture and nutrients. This work will continue for the next four years. His past research has focused on analysing water markets and their operations, impact and design in Australia and wider water sharing policies in Alberta, Canada.
Civil Engineer, currently completing a graduate degree in Integrated Water Resource management at the University of Applied Sciences Cologne, Institute for Technology and Resources Management in the Tropics and Subtropics, Germany. She is a DAAD full scholarship holder in perusing her graduate studies. Sinafekesh has a Civil Engineering degree from Addis Ababa Institute of technology and has been working on Rainwater harvesting systems in dry areas of Kenya with Africa Water Bank and WASH project in a refugee camp with Norwegian Church Aid in Ethiopia. She is interested in SWM to broaden water management knowledge and contribute to the successful implementation of the project.
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University. His teaching and research focus on water resources, infrastructure and utilities, especially on management and governance issues. He studies smart water systems as applied by sensors and decision logic to water infrastructure systems. He has also been Assistant Secretary for Natural Resources and Director of the Division of Environmental Management for North Carolina, as well as director of the state water institute. His recent books include Integrated Water Resources Management (Macmillan); Infrastructure Finance: The Business of Infrastructure for a Sustainable Future; and the Water Business: From the Global Environment to Your Tap (Wiley).
http://www.engr.colostate.edu/ce/facultystaff/grigg/index.shtml
Deputy Director of the Centre for Water Resources Research, China & Professor at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Science. His research of water resources management includes assessment under changing environments, planning, economics, institutions and governance. He has consulted for the Ministry of China Government, the World Bank, the World Resources Institute, Conservation International, the Nature Conservancy and other domestic and international organisations. His other roles include Chair of the Department of Water Resources Research, Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Vice Chair of Special Committee for Water Resources, the Hydraulic Engineering Society of China, Board Member of China Society of Territory Economists, Editorial Board Member of Water International and Journal of Economics of Water Resources. He has authored more than 200 papers and 8 books.
Manager for Asset Development and Management at the Lake Victoria South Water Works Development Agency, Kenya for 15 years. He is a Civil Engineer with over 15 years’ experience in planning and development of water supply and sanitation infrastructure and technical assistance programs. He holds, Master in Engineering in Water Resources Development and Management from Sungkyunkwan University, in South Korea. His focus and interest include Ubiquitous Urban Water Management, Smart Water Grid Planning and Integrated Water Resource Development and Management for sustainable urban settlements. He currently coordinates several programs for Protection and sustainable development of Lake Victoria, such as Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Program in Kisumu City, LVBC- Integrated Water Resource Management Program (Kenya), among others. He brings on board to the Task Force practical experience in water supply
environment in developing countries coupled with an applied and academic research perspective.
www.linkedin.com/in/paul-agwanda-aa676a55
Fernando Ortiz Westendarp is a Project Manager Professional (PMP), Risk Management Professional (RMP) and Civil Engineer with over 25 years of experience in water and wastewater projects in the USA, México, and Central America. He holds a graduate degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Texas, Austin and is currently Associate Director of Environmental Affairs at the North American Development Bank. In his current capacity he has been involved in innovative initiatives such as Energy Efficiency, Results Measurement and Project Impact Assessment, Green Infrastructure, Process Mapping and Risk Assessment, among others. He has ample experience advising water utilities on technical, financial and management strategies and has recently been involved in an ambitious effort in Northern Mexico developing a group collaboration strategy to improve water utilities management practices through capacity building in energy efficiency.
Director of Envirings Incorporated, a private sector consultancy providing policy and program advice on a range of water and climate adaptation issues to government and non-government organizations. She is an experienced urban water infrastructure manager and professional engineer in Ontario, Canada. She earned a PhD researching urban hydrology and associations with aquatic biodiversity decline. She is passionate about building capacity to meet the growing challenges for a sustainable future and sees smart water management as one of the ways to deploy human resources and ingenuity to this purpose.
Environmental Protection Agency, Pakistan since 2011. Currently, he is pursuing a Ph.D. in environmental engineering at U.S.-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water and has various technical publications at his credit. Muhammad holds an M.Sc. degree in Water Resources Engineering from Center of Excellence in Water Resources Engineering, Lahore with a background in agricultural engineering. Recently, he has developed a multi-sensor based framework for the integrated assessment of landscape evolution under regulated fluvial regimes and its turn effect over hydrogeomorphology and water quality of the Indus Delta system. He also takes part in outreach activities from the platform of Society of Water Managers, Youth Parliament of Pakistan, Radio Pakistan and special writings in the national newspapers.
The Smart Water Management Task Force has been involved in two main IWRA projects on Smart Water Management.